Egypt's first human case was reported in mid-March, 2006, with a total of 24 cases to date. From this total, there have been 13 deaths caused by the H5N1 bird flu virus.
According to Health Ministry officials, the boy contracted the virus from domestic birds at his own home.
It is believed that the infected birds in Egypt migrated from Asia.
Since 2003, when the bird flu first hit the Asian poultry farms, there have been 167 humans worldwide who have died from the H5N1 viral strain.
Although the human cases triggered the mass slaughter of tens of millions of poultry, the virus continues to spread.
Health officials across the world are fearful that this virus could turn into a mutated form in which it could possibly and easily spread from one human to another. If this were to happen, it could set off a worldwide pandemic outbreak.
